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A Brief Invocation

Magicke in EC's continuity is a term encompassing a number of supernatural forces able to be studied and used by individuals to cause desirous effects. It is in fact an energy source whose properties, through the use of physical and auditory cues, can alter reality in a minor, prescripted ways. This is a finite source of energy, has a source (however unknown), and must be collected and spent to perform magickal events. At times, magicke is a part of the natural world, and causes strange events and phenomena entirely without any caster. Magicke is even apparent in the genetic make-up of certain races.

Though EC's timeline runs parallel to that of real world history, Magicke has caused the furre world to drastically deviate from historical fact. Magicke has at times vastly accelerated the technological and social progress of many nations, and also caused conflict and catastrophe that has sundered or even destroyed others. This page primarily discusses Magicke as it is performed by users, often called Mages, and the various disciplines practiced by them. For more information, however, please consult Effect of the Supernatural on History.

Magicke falls into a number of different fields or "Schools", as they are known by scholars. Though some scholars do not agree on the classifications, magicke is know by Elysian scholars to fall into the following different schools and specializations. This is considered the magickal "orthodoxy" by those that study different magickal phenomenon, but is by no means comprehensive.

The Elemental Schools

Falling into the classical four Greek elements: air, water, fire and earth. The original Four Disciplines of Magicke are widespread across the earth, and most countries have their own national magicke academies that teach this curriculum. Mythology indicates that the celestial wardens handed magicke down in these four forms, and they form the orthodoxy of magicke. For this and other reasons, most scholars believe that all forms of magicke are derived through hybridization of these four schools.

Air

Generally made up of strategic and tactical spells designed to aid the caster in delivering messsages and offering helpful enchantments to allies, as well as harassment of opponents through the manipulation of air and wind currents. In addition, Air Magicke possesses the highly sought-after ability to enchant objects, and store magicke in mundane objects. An example would be an air mage's ability to store magickal energy and move it from object to object. Air magicke cannot, however, place enchantments on living beings.

Fire

Predominantly offensive in nature, Fire is the mainstay of military mages and those who wish to inflict direct damage on opponents. Fire magicke consists mostly of attack spells, though there are a few non-combat-specific applications: there are some indications that very high level Fire mages can absorb the mana of burning organic matter to use as they see fit.

Water

Water is favoured by anyone seeking to perform mixed roles, in combat and otherwise. The water school offers a variety of both offensive and defensive spells. Its practicality over many situations is the draw for many water-specializing mages. It can be used also to conjure elements of food and clean drinking water in order to aid allies or the casters themselves, as well as strong healing spells designed to quickly repair wounds and flush the body of toxins.

Earth

Earth magicke can be used to create sturdy weapons, to attack, and to heal, though it has a great many useful applications in everyday life. Its vast abilities include the ability to harden substances and reshape matter to suit the caster's interests. A typical earth-magicke attack spell involves the manipulation of terrain, soil or rock to create serious hazards for opponents. These abilities can be used to create tactical advantages for the mage and their allies, as well as offering a substantial boon to easing agriculture and cultivation.

Some magicke types seem to elude classification by the Four Disciplines system. Though far more rare in their practice, these schools are agreed to Academic Magicke generally strongly disproved of the study of any sorcery by people outside of the institutions, they are particularly adamant that these schools not be trifled with by amateurs.

Most of the spells in these categories require the collection and storage of a great deal of magickal energy. As a result, they require mastery of some elemental magicke first before they can be learned. Regardless of social attitudes, any mage practicing these forms will have to have studied the more basic forms of magicke first, and excelled.

Hybrid Schools

Each of the elemental schools create numerous permutations of new magic types when combined together. This is but a single example of the many.

Ice

Ice Magicke is one of the only widely-accepted forms of hybridized magicke, and the best example of the combination of elemental skills. Ice is a combination of (wait for it) Air and Water! Though it generally does not possess any enchantment abilities (as seen in Air Magicke) or any of the healing abilities used in Water Magicke, it is a very potent offensive magicke class. Like all advanced schools, ice magicke consumes mana much faster than elemental ones, and thus while it is being performed, abilities from other schools are difficult to add to the "mix".

Developed as a competitor to the combat potential of Fire Magicke, Ice deals damage by direct and indirect attacks, and using area-of-effect spells to render battlefields inhospitable to enemies. Elaborate storms of piercing ice and hail are created to damage and slow the advance of opponents. Its damage abilities are nearly on par with fire, and is a highly sought-after and handy talent. Only academic mages are taught how to combine Air and Water to create it. Ice Mages tend, also, to get a lot more dates during the hot summer, and always get invited to parties where cold drinks are served.

Advanced Schools

Illusory

Also known sometimes as Faerie magicke, Illusory magicke derives from the Faeriefurres of the world. Though typically associated with the fae, Illusory magicke could potentially be used by an exceptionally trained mortal mage. Despite its difficulty to perform, Illusory magicke requires startlingly little mana to perform.

Originally developed by ancient Fae to aid in their practical jokes, illusory magicke creates spectral images, sounds and phenomenon that are deliberate misrepresentations of the natural world. When used in combat, these effects provide tactical advantages, cause widespread panic, and generally sow total chaos in enemy battle plans. It lacks enchantment, but can be fused with alchemy to create hallucinogenic aerosolized weapons of a sort. Illusory magicke is also known to have emotionally coercive effects on some individuals, making it possible for a great deal of suggestion and compulsion to be inflicted on victims. Study of Illusory magicke is extremely difficult without the aid of a Faeriefurre Mage, a very austere caste of ancient magicke users who jealously guard their secrets. For this reason, it is not widely practiced by mortals or other non-fae.

Death

Also known as Necromancy, Death is the magicke that naturally occurs surrounding the death of complex organic tissue. It is a generalized category of black magicke, from the sorcery that raises dead corpses to other more straight-up destructive spells. Usually, these latter require some other fuel than just the magickal energy possessed by mages, for example they may inflict physical pain on the caster, or require the sacrifice of living beings.

Necromancy, while being taboo, can be learned by virtually any mage who has Mastered one other school. In most parts of the world, Death Magicke is illegal and forbidden for study, but the Skull and Bones society meets in secret to teach curious mages all across the world to use the forbidden school.

Many necromancers, through the pain of their magicke or the isolation of their lifestyle, often become detached, cold, and cruel, adding to a widely proliferated stereotype that they are selfish killers.

It is in fact a "negative feed" magicke - that is, it draws on energies that are anti-Magicke, and destructive of magickal fields used in casting spells. This has been a controversial idea among scientists and scholars who believe such properties cannot exist. Nonetheless, Shadow Mages can perform bizarre feats using this property, such as the negation and destruction of other mages' spells while in the casting stage, sometimes even including the theft of their collated mana.

Shadow Magicke seems particularly antithetical to Ward Magicke and other defensive sorts of spells. It has no healing abilities, and lacks many offensive capabilities of other schools. However, it contains its own unique form of enchantments similar to the Air school, and can be used in the creation of some truly unusual magickal objects. An extension of this effect is the ability to "absorb" magicke from outside sources, with or without their consent.

Perhaps most notably, Shadow magicke can be used to create a nearly impenetrable, self-sustaining defense against incoming magickal attack by devouring the energies of incoming spells, effectively negating them and fueling the antimagic ward. Though potent, such a ward requires active concentration to uphold, precluding the possibility of other spellcasting or defensive action while it is in place. This gives Shadow a particularly potent, but fickle defensive capability.

Many magicke scholars believe that all systems derive from some reorganization of the elemental school; however, no advanced school is more disagreed upon than Shadow Magicke. There have been few Shadow Mages in notable history, making its true nature all the more difficult to research.

In actuality, some secretive schools do teach it, but they are very well hidden. Usually, one can only access information about Shadow Magicke through the acquisition of old writings about it, which are very hard to come by.

Ward or "Holy"

Perhaps belonging to both the "Alternate System" as well as the "Advanced Schools" categories, Ward Magicke (sometimes called "Holy" Magicke) is that practiced by the Old Temple religion's warrior-clerics, and the Eastern Star of Elysia as well. It places a heavy emphasis on enchantment and protection spells, and draws heavily upon the water, air and earth schools in this respect.

Ward Magicke is a type often used by the Courts and temples of kingdoms wishing to protect individuals of import from death magicke and fae compulsions. Though called "Holy" magicke from its focus on protection and healing, some scholars say this name lends too much implication of benevolence to the school. Though it provides an unerring defense against harmful Necromancy and Illusory spells and includes the most potent form of magickal healing yet known, it is not solely a defensive school, possessing a range of offensive magicks which are particularly devastating against daemons and undead. Unlike Shadow magicke, the wards provided by Holy magicke are long-lasting and do not require continued concentration once bestowed; however, they cannot defend against direct elemental damage whatsoever, only able to ward the mind and spirit.

Though most world powers have dabbled in having their Court mages cast protective enchantments on their top brass, it is a very time consuming affair, requires upkeep, and tends to occupy the lives of Mages who might be better off in other military applications. For this reason it is most often practiced by clerics, priest-mages of the Old Temple and Templar religions, and less recently Paladins, a holy order of warrior-mages who possess some limited ability to perform the school's spells.

The Rephan Empire's Vex clan have made great advancements in Ward Magicke, allowing the officers and Nobility of their society to enjoy a great deal of protection against magickal attacks. It was widely considered that many of the elite of the Xantha clan were undefeatable in battle; a combination of their impenetrable magical shielding and their unmatched martial prowess.

Alternate Systems

Many other derivations of these schools of magicke have been created over the millenia and are used in a number of ways. These are not particular magicke "types", but rather systems derived from both the hybridization of elements and alternate systems of casting and mana collection entirely.

Wild Magicke

Wild Magicke is a somewhat pejorative term to describe the non-academic pursuit of magicke. Falling into these categories, typically, is magickes used by indigenous peoples around the world. Effective Wild Mages can combine elements of all four schools, where academic study would require specialization. No less potent in and of themselves, Wild Mages lack access to the tried-and-tested methods of Academic mages, and their practical knowledge besides. For this reason, it's rare to find a Wild Magicke user that has the versatility and practiced skill of an Academy-trained mage.

Druidic

This type can be described as a mixture of earth and water magickes, used primarily for healing and restoration. This is a very common combination found among Druidic tribes across the world, who find it to be of great use to their pastoral lifestyle, and frequently have religious associations with the powers wielded by their respected sorceror class. Often, they double as priests, shamans, and other analogous forms of religious figures, and Druidic Magicke is, as a result, the most "religious" of magicke systems. Very few Druids have the combat potentiality of classic elemental mages, however druidic magicke traditions predate the study of academies by millenia. As a result, there are some well-kept secrets of the earth and water schools that not even Archmages know.

Novari Court Warlocks

The Novari Warlocks have their own system, based upon the four elemental schools, Necromancy, and a small fraction of the knowledge of Shadow Magicke. Though as ignorant as anyone in the use of the latter, they have made great advances in this homemade school of theirs. They have the ability to create artificial monsters ("golems") and siege machines by magickally animating mundane material. These skills are used by a highly hierarchical order of Court Warlocks.

Any who doubt the dabblings of Novari Warlocks would do well to observe their most astonishing feat; they are known for complex and often dangerous experimentation with creating magickal sub-races. The Daruni race was known to be created in this way, though it is considered one success in a series of thousands of grotesque failed attempts to create innately magickal super-beings. They have a reputation for performing experiments on captured prisoners of war, which generally promotes fear and hatred among their international neighbors. Newly elected Mayor Gudrin Osterlund of Elysian City has denounced these practices as "atrocities of the past", though rumours indicate some discrepancy between these claims and the actions of the Novari government.

For more information, please contact Koli or his sex slave, Lithius. Though many of these schools may seem rigid, there are more still in the wide world that scholars have yet to learn of, keeping EC's magicke roleplay open to suggestion.